Flexible touch panel and display apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a flexible touch panel and a display device. The flexible touch panel includes a flexible substrate baseplate, and a touch electrode layer including a plurality of touch electrodes arranged on the flexible substrate baseplate. The flexible touch panel includes at least one bendable area, and at least one of the plurality of touch electrodes has a cutoff region within the bendable area to disconnect the touch electrode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No.15/745,054 filed on Jan. 15, 2018 which is a national stage applicationof international application PCT/CN2017/096013 filed on Aug. 4, 2017,which claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application No.201710051816.0 filed on Jan. 20, 2017, the entire contents of all theseapplications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of display, andparticularly to a flexible touch panel and a display apparatus.

BACKGROUND

As flexible display technology develops, there are increasing demandsfor flexible touch panels. In consideration of optical performance, atouch electrode pattern of the touch panel is generally made of atransparent electrically conductive metallic material such as indium tinoxide (ITO). When the touch electrode pattern is applied to a foldabletype flexible touch panel, the touch panel may be bent again and againat fixed positions within the flexible touch panel when using it.

SUMMARY

At least one embodiment of the disclosure provides a flexible touchpanel, comprising: a flexible substrate baseplate, and a touch electrodelayer comprising a plurality of touch electrodes arranged on theflexible substrate baseplate, wherein the flexible touch panel includesat least one bendable area, and at least one of the plurality of touchelectrodes has a cutoff region within the bendable area to disconnectthe touch electrode.

In some examples, the touch electrodes comprise a plurality of firsttouch electrodes extending along a first direction and a plurality ofsecond touch electrodes extending along a second direction, the bendablearea comprises a bending axis, the first direction intersects with thebending axis, and at least one of the first touch electrodes isdisconnected at the bendable area to be divided into different partsinsulated from each other.

In some examples, each of the first touch electrodes comprises aplurality of first touch electrode blocks arranged along the firstdirection, and every two first touch electrode blocks adjacent along thefirst direction in the first touch electrodes are connected by a firstconnecting portion, each of the second touch electrodes comprises aplurality of second electrode blocks arranged along the seconddirection, and every two second touch electrode blocks adjacent alongthe second direction in the second touch electrodes are connected by asecond connecting portion.

In some examples, the cutoff region of the first touch electrodes islocated in the first touch electrode blocks of the first touchelectrodes.

In some examples, the plurality of touch electrodes comprise at leastone selected from the group consisting of a transparent metal oxideelectrode pattern, a metal mesh pattern and AgNW.

In some examples, at least one first touch electrode block of the firsttouch electrode located in the bendable area has the cutoff region.

In some examples, the first touch electrode blocks of the first touchelectrodes and the second touch electrode blocks of the second touchelectrode are metal mesh patterns, each first touch electrode block ofthe first touch electrode includes a plurality of grids, and the cutoffregion includes breakpoints in grid lines defining the grids.

In some examples, a connecting line of the breakpoints of the grid linesof the first touch electrode blocks within the bendable area are not onthe same straight line.

In some examples, the connecting line of the breakpoints of the gridlines of the electrode blocks within the bendable area is of a brokenline shape formed by connecting a plurality of straight line segments,wherein the number of grids that each straight line segment passesthrough does not exceed five.

In some examples, a breaking distance of each of the breakpoints in thegrid lines is less than 10 μm.

In some examples, the bending axis extends along the second direction,and the first direction is substantially perpendicular to the seconddirection.

In some examples, the flexible touch panel comprises an effective areaand a peripheral area surrounding the effective area, and ends of eachof the first touch electrodes located on both sides of the bending axisare respectively connected with leads located in the peripheral areas onboth sides of the effective area in the first direction, so as torespectively apply signals to parts of the first touch electrode locatedon both sides of the bending axis.

In some examples, the parts of the first touch electrodes and the secondtouch electrodes located on one side of the bending axis of the flexiblepanel are connected to a first touch driver, and the parts of the firsttouch electrodes and the second touch electrodes located on the otherside of the bending axis of the flexible panel are connected to a secondtouch driver.

In some examples, the cutoff region is located in at least one of thefirst touch electrode blocks of the first touch electrodes located inthe bendable area, and the cutoff region extends along a broken line ina direction parallel to the substrate baseplate.

In some examples, a width of the cutoff region in a directionperpendicular to the extending direction of the cutoff region is lessthan 10 μm.

In some examples, at least one electrode block of the first touchelectrodes or the second touch electrodes in the bendable area has acentral hollowed portion, and a pattern line width of the electrodeblock with the central hollowed portion is greater than 20 μm.

In some examples, the first connecting portions of the first touchelectrodes located in the bendable area have the cutoff region.

In some examples, a connecting line of the cutoff regions of the firstconnecting portions of the first touch electrodes is of a broken lineshape.

In some examples, each of the first connecting portions is a jumperline.

At least one embodiment of the disclosure provides a display devicecomprising the flexible touch panel as mentioned above, wherein thedisplay device further comprises a display panel, the flexible touchpanel is bonded with the display panel or a substrate in the displaypanel is also used as the flexible substrate baseplate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in theembodiments of the present disclosure, drawings needing to be used indescriptions of the embodiments will be simply introduced. The drawingsdescribed below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure.Without creative work, a person of ordinary skill in the art may alsoobtain other drawings according to these drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates a structural schematic view of a flexible touchpanel;

FIG. 2 illustrates a first structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a second structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a third structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a fifth structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a sixth structural schematic view of a flexibledisplay panel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a structural schematic view of a flexible displaypanel according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a partial plan view of a metal mesh electrode blockaccording to some embodiments of the disclosure.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioningof some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative toother elements to help to improve understanding of various examples ofthe present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements thatare useful or necessary in a commercially feasible example are often notdepicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these variousexamples. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/orsteps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrencewhile those skilled in the art will understand that such specificitywith respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also beunderstood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinarytechnical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions bypersons skilled in the technical field as set forth above, except wheredifferent specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The terminology used in the present disclosure is for the purpose ofdescribing exemplary examples only and is not intended to limit thepresent disclosure. As used in the present disclosure and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It shall also be understood that the terms “or” and “and/or”used herein are intended to signify and include any or all possiblecombinations of one or more of the associated listed items, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise.

It shall be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,”“third,” etc. may be used herein to describe various information, theinformation should not be limited by these terms. These terms are onlyused to distinguish one category of information from another. Forexample, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure,first information may be termed as second information; and similarly,second information may also be termed as first information. As usedherein, the term “if” may be understood to mean “when” or “upon” or “inresponse to” depending on the context.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “exemplary embodiment,” or the like in the singular orplural means that one or more particular features, structures, orcharacteristics described in connection with an example is included inat least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the appearancesof the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment,” “in anexemplary embodiment,” or the like in the singular or plural in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics in one or more embodiments may becombined in any suitable manner.

Sometimes, due to poor flexibility of indium tin oxide (ITO) as shown inFIG. 1, the touch electrode pattern is prone to rupture nearby a bendingline as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 1. When that happens, theflexible touch panel is destroyed.

Therefore, it is a technical problem to be solved to prevent the ruptureof the touch electrode pattern from affecting the touch operationperformance during use of the foldable type flexible touch panel.

Example implementations of the flexible touch panel and a display deviceaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure are described belowin detail with reference to figures.

Shapes and sizes of components in the figures do not reflect real scaleof the flexible touch panel and are only intended to illustrate thecontent of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, a flexible touch panel according tosome embodiments of the present disclosure may include: a flexiblesubstrate baseplate 100, a touch electrode layer having a plurality oftouch electrode patterns on the flexible substrate baseplate, and theflexible touch electrode pattern 200 disposed on the flexible substratebaseplate 100, and the flexible touch panel has at least one bendablearea, and at least one of the touch electrode patterns within thebendable area 300 has a cutoff region to divide one electrode patterninto insulated portions.

The bendable area 300 arranged on the flexible touch panel and having atleast one relatively fixed position, where at least part of the flexibletouch electrode pattern 200 in the bendable area 300 has a cutoff regionA that may divide the electrode pattern into two substantiallycomplementary portions. Each of the touch electrode patterns within thebendable area has the cutoff region to divide the one electrode patterninto the insulated portions.

The bendable area 300 in the touch panel may be bended when needed. Whenthe bendable area 300 is bended, the touch panel may be folded into twoor multiple folds from a flat touch panel. Not all areas of the touchpanel may be bent. When the touch panel is folded, the bendable area 300may be bent and the rest of areas of the touch panel may not be bent,and may be the relatively fixed positions. The purpose of the bendablearea 300 is for the touch panel to be folded. Sometimes, the bendablearea 300 may have a cutoff region that may have a substantially 90%difference from the direction of the folding of the touch panel. Forexample, in FIG. 6, each bendable area 300 has a cutoff region that hasa horizontal direction while the touch panel may be folded vertically.Thus, the flexible touch panel may have one bendable area, the flexibletouch panel may be bendable along a first direction, and an extensiondirection of the bendable area may be along a second direction that issubstantially perpendicular to the first direction. The cutoff regionmay substantially extend along the extension direction of the bendablearea. As such, all the touch electrode patterns within the bendable areamay have the cutoff region to divide one electrode pattern into twoinsulated portions, and the two insulated portions may be distributedsymmetrically in respect to the cutoff region.

However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, sometimes, even though the directionof the folding is substantially vertical, the bendable area 300 may havethe cutoff regions with more than one directions. Such directions may ormay not be the same.

Thus, connections of all cutoff regions within the bendable areabendable may be substantially a straight line as a whole. Sometimes,connections of all cutoff regions within the bendable area aresubstantially a bent line as a whole as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

For example, in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the cutoffregion A extends along a direction parallel to the substrate baseplate(e.g., in the state of being flat without being bent). For example, thecutoff region has a width in the direction perpendicular to theextending direction can be designed as small as possible, e.g, less than10 μm. For example, the width can be 6 μm or 2 μm.

In the flexible touch panel, the flexible touch electrode pattern 200may be liable for the rupture in the bendable area 300 which is at arelatively fixed position. A transparent electrically conductivematerial with poor flexibility such as ITO may be selected, for opticalperformance, as the material for making the flexible touch electrodepattern 200. Therefore, in the bendable area 300 which is liable torupture, at least part of the flexible touch electrode pattern 200 isdirectly arranged with the cutoff region A.

However, when at least part of the flexible touch electrode pattern 200disposed in the bendable area 300 is removed, the location at the cutoffregion A may be enabled to release stress when it is bent. Thus, damagescaused by the stress generated by the bending to the flexible touchelectrode pattern 200 may be avoided in the bendable area 300, and atthe same time, the removal of the part of flexible touch electrodepattern in the bendable area does not affect the touch operationperformance.

It should be noted that the flexible touch panel according to theembodiment of the present disclosure may be adapted for a flexibledisplay panel having a relatively fixed folding position. Generally, thebendable area 300 is located in the middle of the flexible touch panel,for example, on a central axis. Sometimes, the bendable area 300 may bedisposed closely at an edge position of the flexible touch panel inaccordance with the requirement of some applications. Also, the numberof the bendable areas 300 may be one or more.

The following examples describe the scenarios that the bendable area 300is disposed in the middle of the flexible touch panel. However, inpractice, the bendable area 300 may be in the other areas of theflexible touch panel.

In the flexible touch panel according to the embodiment of thedisclosure, at least part of the flexible touch electrode pattern 200 inthe bendable area 300 is arranged to contain a cutoff region A. Theflexible touch electrode patterns 200 on two sides of the cutoff regionA may be independent from each other and may be spaced apart by thecutoff region A.

To ensure normal performance of touch detection, it is possible torespectively arrange a separated signal wiring connected with a touchchip at the flexible touch electrode patterns 200 on two sides of thecutoff region A. The flexible touch electrode patterns 200 on each sideof the cutoff region A is connected with the touch chip via acorresponding signal wiring respectively.

When the flexible touch electrode pattern 200 is completely cut off atthe bendable area 300 as shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 5, the flexibletouch electrode pattern 200 is divided into two completely independentpattern regions along the location of the cutoff region A. A leftpattern and a right pattern as shown in the figures.

Thus, it is possible to respectively use an independent touch chip tocontrol the left pattern and right pattern to execute the touchdetection function. The flexible touch panel may be considered as twoindependent panels. The flexible touch electrode patterns 200 located ontwo sides of the cutoff region A may be respectively connected withdifferent touch chips through respective signal wirings. Thus, touchelectrode patterns located on two sides of the cutoff region may beconnected by separated signal wirings and a single touch chip. Also,touch electrode patterns located on two sides of the cutoff region areconnected by separated signal wirings and different touch chips.

In a possible implementation, one part of the touch electrode patternsmay include touch driving electrodes and another part of the touchelectrode patterns may include touch sense electrodes.

In the flexible touch panel according to the embodiment of thedisclosure, to make the location of the cutoff region A of the flexibletouch electrode pattern 200 in the bendable area 300 invisible as muchas possible and to mitigate the impact on display consistency of theflexible touch panel, in one implementation, the location of the cutoffregion A of the flexible touch electrode pattern 200 may be as small aspossible. Thus, a gap of the cutoff region A should be as narrow aspossible, and the pattern at the location of the cutoff region A may bedesigned as disorderly as possible to make the location not easily benoticed.

In one implementation, in the flexible touch panel according to theembodiment of the disclosure, the flexible touch electrode pattern 200,as shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, generally may include: touch drivingelectrodes 210 and touch induction electrodes 220. An extensiondirection of the touch driving electrodes 210 may be a horizontaldirection as shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7. Correspondingly, anextension direction of the touch induction electrodes 220 may be avertical direction. Alternatively, the extension direction of the touchdriving electrodes 210 may be a vertical direction, and correspondingly,the extension direction of the touch induction electrodes 220 may be ahorizontal direction. The extension directions may have many variations.The touch driving electrodes 210 and touch induction electrodes 220 maybe generally shaped as a diamond.

As shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, each of the touch driving electrodes210 comprises a plurality of electrode blocks which are connected insequence. The arrangement direction of the electrode blocks in eachtouch driving electrode is the horizontal direction, i.e., it is theextension direction of the touch driving electrode 210. The arrangementdirection of the electrode blocks in each touch induction electrode 220is the vertical direction, i.e., it is the extension direction of thetouch induction electrode 220.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, the electrodeblocks in the touch driving electrodes 210 and touch inductionelectrodes 220 may be shaped as square or circle. In some embodiments,the electrode blocks in the touch driving electrodes 210 and theelectrode blocks in the touch induction electrodes 220 are shaped as thesame. In some embodiments, shapes of the electrode blocks in the touchdriving electrodes 210 and the electrode blocks in the touch inductionelectrodes 220 are different from each other.

The flexible touch electrode pattern 200, as shown in FIG. 2 throughFIG. 7, generally may include: a jumper line 230 that bridges adjacentelectrode blocks in the touch driving electrodes 210 or adjacentelectrode blocks in the touch induction electrodes 220. For example, asshown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, the electrode blocks in each touchdriving electrode are connected with the jumper line 230 so as to formthe touch driving electrode extending along the horizontal direction.For the electrode blocks in the touch induction electrode, the adjacentelectrode blocks can be directly connected with each other or connectedwith a connection line integrally formed with the electrode blocks. Thebendable area may have at least one jumper line, and at least part ofthe at least one jumper line within the bendable area may be in thecutoff region of the bendable area. In FIG. 2 through FIG. 7, theexample is provided to show the jumper line 230 to bridge adjacentelectrode blocks of the touch driving electrodes 210. The jumper linemay also bridge adjacent touch induction electrodes which is not shownin FIG. 2 through FIG. 7. Thus, a plurality of jumper line with eachelectrically connecting adjacent touch electrode patterns. For example,the first touch electrode 210 includes a plurality of first touchelectrode blocks (the square as illustrated in FIG. 2) arranged in thefirst direction (e.g., the horizontal direction in FIG. 2), every twofirst touch electrode blocks adjacent along the first direction areconnected by a first connecting portion. The second touch electrode 220includes a plurality of second touch electrode blocks (the square asillustrated in FIG. 2) arranged in the second direction (e.g., thevertical direction in FIG. 2), every two second touch electrode blocksadjacent along the second direction are connected by a second connectingportion. For example, one of the first connecting portion and the secondconnecting portion is the jumper line as described above, and the otherone can be a portion integral with the touch electrode blocks andbetween adjacent touch electrode blocks. In FIG. 2, as an example, thefirst connecting portion is the jumper line 230, and the secondconnecting portion is the portion between adjacent second touchelectrode blocks and shielded by the jumper line 230.

In the flexible touch panel according to the embodiment of thedisclosure, the touch driving electrodes 210 and touch inductionelectrodes 220 included by the flexible touch electrode pattern 200generally may use a transparent electrically conductive material such asITO. The jumper line 230 may use either a metallic material or atransparent electrically conductive material. The present disclosuredoes not limit the use of materials.

Based on the above flexible touch electrode pattern 200, in the flexibletouch panel according to the embodiment of the disclosure, there may bethe cutoff region A with different patterns depending on differentstructures of the flexible touch electrode pattern 200 included in thebendable area 300. Detailed depictions are provided by describingseveral examples below.

In the flexible touch panel according to the present embodiment, asshown in FIG. 2 through FIG. 4, the touch driving electrodes 210 ortouch induction electrodes 220 included in the bendable area 300 havethe cutoff region A in the extension direction of the bendable area 300.

For example, in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, the cutoffregion is located in the touch electrode blocks within the bendable areaof the first touch electrodes 210.

In one implementation, the electrodes located in the cutoff region Aneed to be determined according to whether the flexible touch electrodepattern 200 included at the location of the bendable area 300 is in thetouch driving electrodes 210 or touch induction electrodes 220. Each ofFIG. 2 through FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates the bendable area 300covering the touch driving electrodes 210 as an example. In theextension direction of the bendable area 300, multiple touch drivingelectrodes 210 in the bendable area 300 contain the cutoff region A.

Specific graphs for performing the cutoff processing may employ multiplemanners. For example, performing the cutoff processing may be in astraight line manner as shown in FIG. 2, performing the cutoffprocessing may be in a bent line manner as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4,or performing the cutoff processing may be in a curved line manner.Performing the cutoff processing may also be in other ways which are notelaborated herein. In another implementation, the cutoff graph resultingfrom the cutoff processing in the bent line manner may be moredisorderly than that resulting from the cutoff processing in thestraight line manner and may not be easily noticed. However, the graphsother than the straight line may be more complicated, and may imposecertain requirements for the precision of the manufacturing process.

As shown in FIG. 2, the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch inductionelectrodes 220 included in the bendable area 300 have a straight linecutoff region A in the extension direction of the bendable area 300. Asshown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the touch driving electrodes 210 or touchinduction electrodes 220 included in the bendable area 300 have a bentline cutoff region A in the extension direction of the bendable area300. When the cutoff processing is performed in the bent line manner,the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch induction electrodes 220included in the bendable area 300 may have a serrated bent line cutoffregion A as shown in FIG. 3 or a concave and convex bent line cutoffregion A as shown in FIG. 4 in the extension direction of the bendablearea 300.

In the flexible touch panel according to the present embodiment, whenthe touch driving electrodes 210 or touch induction electrodes 220 inthe bendable area 300 are cut off, it may further perform a hollowingprocessing at the cutoff location to further release the stress duringthe bending.

As shown in FIG. 5, the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch inductionelectrodes 220 having the straight line cutoff region A further have acentral hollowed region B including the cutoff region A. A centralregion of the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch induction electrodes220 having the cutoff region A is hollowed on the basis of the cutoffregion A. Thus, the touch electrode pattern within the bendable area mayhave the cutoff region with central hollowed portions.

Such hollowed region B and the cutoff region A in the hollowed region Bmay facilitate the folding of the touch panel. When the foldable area asshown in FIG. 5 is substantially hollowed, the touch panel may be foldedalong the cutoff region A without much resistance. Because the foldablearea is hollowed, the touch panel may be folded repeatedly withoutwearing out the foldable area.

In one implementation, the shape of the hollow may vary. For example, itmay be a shape such as circle, rectangle or polygon. However, a maximumhollowing degree should be a pattern line width that may be ensured bythe capacity of the process. The hollowing should ensure integrity ofouter contour of the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch inductionelectrodes 220. Each touch electrode pattern within the bendable areamay have the cutoff region with central hollowed portions.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the central hollowed regions B of thetouch driving electrodes 210 or touch induction electrodes 220 havingthe straight line cutoff region A are arranged to match the outercontour of the touch driving electrodes 210 or touch inductionelectrodes 220. The pattern line width of the touch driving electrodes210 or touch induction electrodes 220 having the central hollowedregions B may be greater than 20 μm. Thus, the pattern line width of theouter contour of the touch electrode patterns within the bendable areamay be greater than 20 μm.

In Example 1 and Example 2, by means of designing the location of thebendable area 300, it may ensure that the touch driving electrodes 210or the touch induction electrodes 220 having the cutoff region A aredistributed symmetrically in respect to the cutoff region A.

In the flexible touch panel according to the present embodiment, asshown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, when the bendable area 300 includes thejumper line 230, at least part of the jumper line 230 included in thebendable area 300 may have the cutoff region A. As such, the impactexerted by the stress to the jumper line 230 may be reduced and therupture of the jumper line 230 which may affect the touch operationperformance can be prevented. Thus, each of more than one jumper linesmay be a straight line having a cutoff part in the cutoff region.Sometimes, the more than one jumper lines may also be a bent line havinga cutoff part in the cutoff region.

In one implementation, it is possible to perform the cutoff processingfor all jumper lines 230, or a part of lines 230 included in thebendable area 300 or other variations which are not elaborated herein.For example, as shown in FIG. 6, each of jumper lines 230 that arelocated on the same straight line may be arranged to have the cutoffregion A. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, each of jumper lines 230that extend in the bent line may be arranged to have the cutoff regionA. In both FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the cutoff region A is illustrated asjumper lines 230 that have dotted lines. The jumper lines 230 havingdotted lines are to be moved. In practice, it is possible to removemerely part of jumper lines rather than the whole jumper lines in orderto perform the cutoff processing.

It should be noted that in the flexible touch panel according to theembodiment of the present disclosure, the cutoff processing may beperformed only for the touch driving electrodes 210 or for touchinduction electrodes 220 included in the bendable area 300.Alternatively, the cutoff processing may be performed only for thejumper lines 230 included in the bendable area 300, or simultaneouslyfor the electrode blocks of the touch driving (induction) electrodes 210(220) and the jumper lines 230 included in the bendable area 300. Othervariations may be available and the present disclosure does notelaborate.

In some embodiments, the flexible touch panel includes an effective areaprovided with the touch electrodes and a periphery area surrounding theeffective area. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the part of thefirst touch electrode 210 located at the left side of the cutoff regionA is connected to a touch chip 410 through leads at the left side of theeffective area, and the part of the first touch electrode 210 located atthe right side of the cutoff region A is connected to a touch chip 420through leads at the right side of the effective area. For the secondtouch electrodes 220, their extending direction is substantiallyparallel to the extending direction of the bendable area, and they canbe divided as the second touch electrodes 220 at the left side of thecutoff region A and the second touch electrodes 220 at the right side ofthe cutoff region A. The second touch electrodes 220 at the left side ofthe cutoff region A can be connected to the touch chip 410, and thesecond touch electrodes 220 at the right side of the cutoff region A canbe connected to the touch chip 420. Therefore, the touch electrodepattern can be divided into two parts at both sides of the cutoffregion, which are controlled by two touch chip, respectively. Forexample, in the case that the flexible touch panel is applied in thebendable display screen, the touch region at one side of the bendablearea may correspond to a non-display region when the bendable displayscreen is bent. In this case, this touch region can be controlled tocease to work so as to avoid the touch detection error caused by thetouch floating phenomenon when the non-display region is touched. Forexample, in this embodiment, the touch electrode 210 extendinghorizontally is a touch induction electrode and the touch electrode 220extending vertically is a touch driving electrode.

The above description takes the touch electrode pattern prepared fromtransparent conductive oxide such as ITO as an example, however, theembodiments of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and thetouch electrode pattern according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure can also be a metal mesh electrode pattern or an electrodepattern of any other suitable material. For example, in the touchelectrode pattern as illustrated in FIGS. 2-7, each square electrodeblock is replaced with a metal mesh block so as to form the metal meshtouch electrode pattern. For example, the electrode blocks of the firsttouch electrode and the electrode blocks of the second touch electrodecan be metal mesh patterns. The metal mesh electrode blocks areconnected by the first connecting portion and the second connectingportion. One of the first connecting portion and the second connectingportion is the jumper line, and the other may be a connecting lineintegrally formed with the metal mesh electrode blocks. Similarly, inthe case of the metal mesh touch electrodes, the cutoff region can existon the connecting portions or the electrode blocks, or on both theconnecting portions and the electrode blocks.

In the case of the metal mesh electrode pattern, the cutoff region isrealized by disconnecting the grid lines in a predetermined region. Eachelectrode block can include a plurality of grids, and the cutoff regioncan include a plurality of breakpoints in the grid lines defining thegrids. As illustrated in FIG. 9, it illustrates a partial plan view of ametal mesh electrode block. The metal mesh electrode block includes aplurality of grids 510 connected to each other in a net or mesh shape.In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, each grid is approximatelyhexagonal in shape, however, the embodiments according to the presentdisclosure are not limited thereto, and the shape of the grids may bequadrangle or other polygon or irregular shape. The grid lines definingeach grid are formed by metal lines, which may be silver lines or othersuitable metal lines, for example. In order to realize the cutoff regionof the metal mesh electrode block, fractures can be formed at thepredetermined positions of some grid lines.

In some examples, the plurality of touch electrodes comprise AgNW(silver nanowires). For example, the touch electrode comprises electrodeblocks formed by AgNW.

In the embodiments illustrated with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, thecutoff region of the electrode block may be in the form of a brokenline. In the case of a metal mesh electrode pattern, for example, asillustrated in FIG. 9, along a broken line line 600 extendingsubstantially in the horizontal direction in the figure, the grid linesare disconnected at the intersection positions of the broken line 600and the grid lines defining the grids 510 to form the breakpoints. Forexample, in the case of such a cutoff region, the connecting linebetween the breakpoints is also a broken line, that is, it is not on thesame straight line. For example, the broken line formed by theconnecting line between breakpoints includes a plurality of straightline segments connected end to end, and the number of grids that eachstraight line segment passes through is not more than 5. That is to say,the breakpoints forming the cutoff region are not located on the samestraight line. The maximum distance spanned by adjacent breakpoints onthe same straight line does not exceed 5 grids. In this way, thevisualization phenomenon of the cutoff region caused by the diffractionenhancement at the cutoff region can be weakened or avoided. Forexample, in each first touch electrode block, the breakpoints are not atthe same straight line.

In addition, as described above, in order to avoid the visualization ofthe cutoff region, the cutoff region can be made as small as possible.In the case of the metal mesh electrode pattern, since its disconnectionposition is realized by each breakpoint on the grid line, the breakingdistance (distance between opposite ends of disconnected grid line) ofthe breakpoint of the grid line can be very small, for example, it canbe less than 10 μm. In some examples, the breaking distance may be lessthan or equal to 6 μm or 2 μm.

In some embodiments as mentioned above, the cutoff region is locatedaround the bending axis and runs through the whole touch electrodepattern along the bending axis. However, the embodiments according tothe present disclosure are not limited thereto, for example, the cutoffregion can be provided at only partial positions in the direction alongthe bending axis; or, although the cutoff region is in the bending area,it can deviate from the bending axis; alternatively, the cutoff regioncan be located at any other position within the bendable area. Forexample, the bending axis can be the center line of the strip-shapedbendable area.

The flexible touch structure described above can be a flexible touchpanel alone or a flexible touch display panel bonded with a displaystructure, and the combination mode of the flexible touch structure andthe display structure is not particularly limited. For example, it canbe an out-cell touch display device in which a flexible touch panel isbonded with a display panel, or an on-cell or in-cell touch displaydevice in which the touch structure is combined in the display panel.For example, in the case of an out-cell touch display device, theflexible touch panel and the display panel may be bonded with eachother. In case of the on-cell and in-cell touch display device, theflexible substrate baseplate of the flexible touch panel can be onesubstrate in the display panel. For example, the above touch controlstructure can be integrated on the OLED display substrate, and it can beformed on the packaging layer of the OLED display substrate.

Based on the same disclosed concept, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may further provide a display device. The display device mayinclude the flexible touch panel described above according toembodiments of the present disclosure. The display device may be anyproduct or component having the display function such as a mobile phone,a tablet computer, a TV set, a display, a notebook computer, a digitalphoto frame or a navigator. The implementation of the display device mayrefer to the above embodiments of the flexible touch panel. Thus, thepresent disclosure does not described repeatedly herein.

The present disclosure provides a flexible touch panel. The flexibletouch panel may include: a flexible substrate baseplate, and a touchelectrode layer having a plurality of touch electrode patterns on theflexible substrate baseplate; where: the flexible touch panel has atleast one bendable area, and at least one of the touch electrodepatterns within the bendable area has a cutoff region to divide oneelectrode pattern into insulated portions.

In a possible implementation, each touch electrode pattern within thebendable area has the cutoff region to divide the electrode pattern intotwo substantially complementary portions.

In a possible implementation, each of the touch electrode patternswithin the bendable area has the cutoff region to divide the oneelectrode pattern into the insulated portions.

In a possible implementation, connections of all cutoff regions withinthe bendable area bendable are substantially a straight line bendablearea.

In a possible implementation, connections of all cutoff regions withinthe bendable area are substantially a bent line bendable area.

In a possible implementation, each touch electrode pattern within thebendable area has the cutoff region with central hollowed portions.

In a possible implementation, each touch electrode pattern within thebendable area comprises an outer contour.

In a possible implementation, a pattern line width of the outer contourof the touch electrode patterns within the bendable area is greater than20 μm.

In a possible implementation, the flexible touch panel has one bendablearea, the flexible touch panel is bendable along a first direction, andan extension direction of the bendable area is along a second directionthat is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

In a possible implementation, the cutoff region substantially extendsalong the extension direction of the bendable area.

In a possible implementation, all the touch electrode patterns withinthe bendable area have the cutoff region to divide one electrode patterninto two insulated portions, and the two insulated portions aredistributed symmetrically in respect to the cutoff region.

In a possible implementation, the flexible touch panel further includesa plurality of jumper line with each electrically connecting adjacenttouch electrode patterns.

In a possible implementation, the bendable are have at least one jumperline, and at least part of the at least one jumper line within thebendable area in the cutoff region of the bendable area.

In a possible implementation, each of more than one jumper lines is astraight line having a cutoff part in the cutoff region.

In a possible implementation, each of the more than one jumper lines isa bent line having a cutoff part in the cutoff region.

In a possible implementation, touch electrode patterns located on twosides of the cutoff region are connected by separated signal wirings anda single touch chip.

In a possible implementation, touch electrode patterns located on twosides of the cutoff region are connected by separated signal wirings anddifferent touch chips.

In a possible implementation, one part of the touch electrode patternscomprises touch driving electrodes and another part of the touchelectrode patterns comprises touch sense electrodes.

In another aspect, the present disclosure further provides a displayapparatus.

It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary only, and are notrestrictive of the present disclosure.

In the flexible touch panel and display device according to theembodiments of the disclosure, the flexible touch electrode pattern maybe liable to rupture at the bendable area at a fixed position when atransparent electrically conductive material with an undesirableflexibility is selected as the material for making the flexible touchelectrode pattern for optical performance Therefore, in the bendablearea which is liable to rupture, at least part of the flexible touchelectrode pattern may be directly arranged as a cutoff region. Thus, atleast part of the flexible touch electrode pattern which should havebeen disposed in the bendable area is removed, thereby enabling thesecutoff locations to release stress when the bendable area is bent. Also,damages caused by the stress generated by the bending to the flexibletouch electrode pattern in the bendable area may be avoided. Sucharrangement may not affect the touch operation performance.

Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modification andvariations to embodiments of the present disclosure without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. As such, if thesemodifications and variations fall within the scope of claims of thepresent disclosure and equivalent technologies thereof, the presentdisclosure is intended to cover these modifications and variations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A flexible touch panel, comprising: a flexiblesubstrate baseplate, and a touch electrode layer comprising a pluralityof touch electrodes arranged on the flexible substrate baseplate,wherein the flexible touch panel includes at least one bendable area,and at least one of the plurality of touch electrodes has a cutoffregion within the bendable area to disconnect the touch electrode. 2.The flexible touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the touchelectrodes comprise a plurality of first touch electrodes extendingalong a first direction and a plurality of second touch electrodesextending along a second direction, the bendable area comprises abending axis, the first direction intersects with the bending axis, andat least one of the first touch electrodes is disconnected at thebendable area to be divided into different parts insulated from eachother.
 3. The flexible touch panel according to claim 2, wherein each ofthe first touch electrodes comprises a plurality of first touchelectrode blocks arranged along the first direction, and every two firsttouch electrode blocks adjacent along the first direction in the firsttouch electrodes are connected by a first connecting portion, each ofthe second touch electrodes comprises a plurality of second electrodeblocks arranged along the second direction, and every two second touchelectrode blocks adjacent along the second direction in the second touchelectrodes are connected by a second connecting portion.
 4. The flexibletouch panel according to claim 3, wherein the cutoff region of the firsttouch electrodes is located in the first touch electrode blocks of thefirst touch electrodes.
 5. The flexible touch panel according to claim3, wherein the plurality of touch electrodes comprise at least oneselected from the group consisting of a transparent metal oxideelectrode pattern, a metal mesh pattern and AgNW.
 6. The flexible touchpanel according to claim 5, wherein at least one first touch electrodeblock of the first touch electrodes located in the bendable area has thecutoff region.
 7. The flexible touch panel according to claim 6, whereinthe first touch electrode blocks of the first touch electrodes and thesecond touch electrode blocks of the second touch electrode are metalmesh patterns, each first touch electrode block of the first touchelectrode includes a plurality of grids, and the cutoff region includesbreakpoints in grid lines defining the grids.
 8. The flexible touchpanel according to claim 7, wherein a connecting line of the breakpointsof the grid lines of the first touch electrode blocks within thebendable area are not on the same straight line.
 9. The flexible touchpanel according to claim 8, wherein the connecting line of thebreakpoints of the grid lines of the electrode blocks within thebendable area is of a broken line shape formed by connecting a pluralityof straight line segments, wherein the number of grids that eachstraight line segment passes through does not exceed five.
 10. Theflexible touch panel according to claim 7, wherein a breaking distanceof each of the breakpoints in the grid lines is less than 10 μm.
 11. Theflexible touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the bending axisextends along the second direction, and the first direction issubstantially perpendicular to the second direction.
 12. The flexibletouch panel according to claim 11, wherein the flexible touch panelcomprises an effective area and a peripheral area surrounding theeffective area, and ends of each of the first touch electrodes locatedon both sides of the bending axis are respectively connected with leadslocated in the peripheral areas on both sides of the effective area inthe first direction, so as to respectively apply signals to parts of thefirst touch electrode located on both sides of the bending axis.
 13. Theflexible touch panel according to claim 12, wherein the parts of thefirst touch electrodes and the second touch electrodes located on oneside of the bending axis of the flexible panel are connected to a firsttouch driver, and the parts of the first touch electrodes and the secondtouch electrodes located on the other side of the bending axis of theflexible panel are connected to a second touch driver.
 14. The flexibletouch panel according to claim 3, wherein the cutoff region is locatedin at least one of the first touch electrode blocks of the first touchelectrodes located in the bendable area, and the cutoff region extendsalong a broken line in a direction parallel to the substrate baseplate.15. The flexible touch panel according to claim 14, wherein a width ofthe cutoff region in a direction perpendicular to the extendingdirection of the cutoff region is less than 10 μm.
 16. The flexibletouch panel according to claim 15, wherein at least one electrode blockof the first touch electrodes or the second touch electrodes in thebendable area has a central hollowed portion, and a pattern line widthof the electrode block with the central hollowed portion is greater than20 μm.
 17. The flexible touch panel according to claim 3, wherein thefirst connecting portions of the first touch electrodes located in thebendable area have the cutoff region.
 18. The flexible touch panelaccording to claim 17, wherein a connecting line of the cutoff regionsof the first connecting portions of the first touch electrodes is of abroken line shape.
 19. The flexible touch panel according to claim 18,wherein each of the first connecting portions is a jumper line.
 20. Adisplay device comprising the flexible touch panel according to claim 1,wherein the display device further comprises a display panel, theflexible touch panel is bonded with the display panel or a substrate inthe display panel is also used as the flexible substrate baseplate.